


Lead Them or Fall

by lifeinskinnyjeans



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Mage Adaar - Freeform, mage inquisitor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 16:28:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4528983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifeinskinnyjeans/pseuds/lifeinskinnyjeans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taasa Adaar led a decent enough life as a mercenary and a mage since she joined the company as a young adult.  Sent to the Divine Conclave as protection, Taasa was the only survivor of an explosion that killed Divine Justinia V, and now bears a mark on her hand, a mark that many people claim is a mark of the favor of Andraste since the prophetess saved Taasa from the Fade.  Taasa does not believe in Andraste or the Maker, and does not believe she is any type of hero -- she is simply the woman who stepped up to lead the armies to defeat the tear in the sky that threatens the whole of Thedas.  But no one said she couldn't find a bit of fun in saving the whole of Thedas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tell Me Why We Shouldn't Kill You Now

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: i know i use exact dialogue from the game itself, with help from my own copy and youtube walkthroughs. i don't own any of the characters except for my inquisitor. everything about her is of my own creation; the rest is property of EA & Bioware.
> 
> this is also currently a working title. if i decide on this one or a different one, i'll make a note.

It was dark around her, blue eyes having adjusted to the darkness long ago.  She knew the details of the cell she sat in perfectly after only a few days; soldiers surrounding her in all corners and on all sides, hands chained to the floor, and no window to let in light.  Soldiers' swords pointed at her, unwavering, as if she was going to _do_ anything, chained as she was.  But she hadn't said a word.

Her eyes waver to her hand, ungloved.  It sparks and glows, eliciting a jerk from the qunari.  What was this on her hand?  It seemed a mark, one that glowed an unnatural green as it flickered briefly on her hand and then died out.  How did it come to be, and why was it on  _her_ hand?  And why couldn't she remember anything about it?

Light streamed in from the door, momentarily blinding the qunari.  She squinted against the light from outside, and quickly she saw two women enter the room.  The soldiers lowered their swords and stood to attention when they entered.  The one woman was clothed almost entirely in purple, head covered by a hood.  Taasa could see a few strands of ginger hair poking from the edges and she walked with a particular grace Taasa had not seen in many people.  The other woman had a hard countenance, dark hair with a thin braid that crowned her head, and a large scar across her left cheek.  She circles around Taasa with a frown that seemed permanently plastered on her hard face.  "Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now."  The thick accent in her voice rings through the small room.  "The Conclave is destroyed; everyone who attended is dead.  Except for you."

Taasa resents being blamed for an event she doesn't even remember.  Dark brows furrow as impassioned words fly from her lips, even if her voice does crack slightly from having not spoken for a day or so.  "Whatever you think I did, I'm innocent!"

"Explain this," the dark-haired woman nearly spits, pulling Taasa's hand from her lap.  The mark flares green again, as if by command.

"I...can't."

"What do you mean you  _can't_?"

"I don't what that is, or how it got there."

"You're lying!"  She places her hands on the qunari's shoulders, nearly shaking her, but the hooded woman steps in, pushing the other back.  Taasa thinks she's lucky that the qunari is tied down; else that gesture alone would have been enough provocation for the qunari to start a fight.

"We need her, Cassandra," the hooded woman interjects, stepping forward seemingly from the shadows and calmly confronting the dark-haired woman, whose name was apparently Cassandra.  This Cassandra softens minutely, shooting a glare at the qunari chained to the floor.

"I did nothing.  Let me go."

"Do you remember what happened?  How this began?" the hooded woman asked.  He own accent reverberated off the walls as well, different from the woman referred to as Cassandra.

"I remember...running.  Things were chasing me and then...a woman?"  Taasa sees Cassandra walking past her in her periphery, but makes no physical note of it.

"A woman?" the hooded woman asks.

"She reached out to me, but then..."  The qunari's voice trails off, unable to remember any more, and cursing herself for it.

Taasa hears the sigh in Cassandra's voice.  "Go to the forward camp, Leliana.  I will take her to the rift."  The hooded woman -- Leliana, apparently -- nods and exits the room through the open door.  Cassandra approaches Taasa and undoes the chains from her hands, instead binding them together with a length of rope.

"What  _did_ happen?"  Perhaps this woman knows.

Cassandra begins to hoist Taasa to her feet.  The qunari stumbles as she stands, unable to use her hands to steady herself easier.  "It will be easier to show you."  She leads the bound qunari out into the light; Taasa squints against it again, surrounding her along with the bracing air of the town around them.  Her eyes are drawn to the large green swirl in the sky.  "We call it the Breach," Cassandra says.  "It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour.  It isn't the only such rift, but it is the largest.  All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave."

Taasa's brows furrow again.  "An explosion can do that?"

"This one did.  Unless we act, the Breach will grow until it swallows the world."

At that moment, a searing pain rips through Taasa's hand, pulling a stunted scream from her lips and pushing her to her knees.  Hands still bound, it was hard to do much else.  The mark on her hand flares green, flickering like a candle's flame.  Cassandra turns and kneels before the qunari, face impassive.  "Each time the Breach expands, your mark spreads, and it is killing you.  It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn't much time."

"So I don't really have much choice in this?"

Cassandra frowns.  "None of us have a choice."  Regardless, she pulls Taasa to her feet, steadying her as she stumbles without the use of her hands to steady her.  They begin to walk down the brick walkway, toward what, Taasa didn't know.  The people gathered stared at them as they passed.  "They have decided your guilt.  They need it.  The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry.  The Conclave was hers.  It was a chance for peace between mages and templars.  She brought together their leaders; now they are dead.  We lash out, like the sky, but we must think beyond ourselves, as she did.  Until the Breach is sealed."

The pair of women stop just outside a set of wooden doors, and Cassandra turns to face Taasa, pulling out a knife.  The qunari frowns instantly at the sight of the blade, but relaxes when the other uses the blade to cut the rope binding her hands together.  "There will be a trial.  I can promise no more."  Taasa rubs her wrists.  "Come, it is not far."

"Where are we going?" Taasa asks, still frowning.

"Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach," Cassandra answers.  She doesn't seem to be leading any longer, instead waiting for Taasa to move forward, though the qunari doesn't know where she's supposed to be going.  However, the only way to go right now is forward, unless she wants to jump off this bridge.  So, she walks forward at a brisk pace, and she hears the footfalls of Cassandra behind following closely.

Taasa hears the conversations of the people she passes, spouting prayers to a god she doesn't believe in.  She continues moving, through another set of wooden doors and around a corner, up a hill peppered with spiked barricades.  The pair of women encounter soldiers running in the opposite direction, proclaiming the end of the world.  There seem to be comets falling from the sky, but they only crater the ground slightly in front of them, throwing up dirt and snow.  The Breach looms ahead of them in the distance, ominous with the green glow illuminating its own part of the sky.  Fires burn on the sides of the path, but Taasa ignores them and simply continues on her path.

After only a few minutes, the mark on Taasa hand flares again, spreading along her hand, the pain surprising her and pushing her down to one knee.  Cassandra helps the qunari to her feet again, hands on broad shoulders.  "The pulses are coming faster now."  The mark flares and dies again, and Taasa continues on the path ahead of them, despite Cassandra speaking.  A woman who seems as capable as she does can stand walking and talking, yes?  "The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face."

"How  _did_ I survive the blast?" Taasa asks over her shoulder.

"They say you...stepped out of a rift, then fell unconscious.  They say a woman was in the rift behind you.  No one knows who she was."

Taasa didn't have to question whom 'they' were -- the soldiers that surrounded the camp of civilians were likely whom Cassandra was referring to.  But the qunari doesn't remember the woman behind her, only the woman who reaches out to her before her escape from the Fade.

At a brisk jog now, Taasa and Cassandra begin to cross a bridge, but one of the comet-bursts Taasa had seen before fires directly in front of them, shattering the bricks of the bridge and tumbling both of the women down onto the ground below.  They both bounce over a series of rocks, which will surely result in a few bruises blooming on the qunari's body over the next few days.  They both roll to a stop, and Taasa begins to push herself to her feet.  Another comet burst fires a few feet in front of them.  She doesn't notice Cassandra on her feet and sword drawn next to her as she stands, demons revealed in the comet burst.  "Stay behind me!" the warrior calls, rushing forward and slashing her sword with the expertise of a woman trained for years.

As Taasa stands, the ground darkens in front of her, flickering green just as her mark had done previously.  A shade rises from the ground in front of her, and with no weapon in her hands, her eyes dart back and forth, spying a staff leaning against a rock.  She hurriedly picks it up and begins to fire bolts from it, one after the other hitting the shade as the demon incessantly attacks from the front.  Taasa knocks the staff into where its head should be once, twice, three times, and a flash of fire from her palm slays the demon.  Cassandra pulls her sword from the demon she was fighting, and turns to Taasa, a deep frown furrowing her brow.  Her sword is still drawn, now pointed at Taasa, shield up in front of her torso.  "Drop your weapon."

The qunari holds her staff behind her, standing offensively against the warrior's defensive position.  "I don't need a staff to be dangerous."

Cassandra hesitates, but stands down, sheathing her sword and returning her shield to her back.  Taasa mirrors her actions, strapping the staff to her back.  "I suppose you are right.  You don't need a staff, but you should have one.  I cannot protect you."  Taasa notices the softening of the warrior's face as she speaks.  The qunari softens as well, noticing already the depth of emotion she sees in a woman previously thought to be stone cold (though it's not like she had much to go on as an impression; she has only known the woman for a matter of minutes).  "I should remember you did not attempt to run," Cassandra adds, somewhat sarcastically.  With a discreet roll of her eyes, Taasa moves forward only a few steps before Cassandra hands her a handful of bottles filled with a reddish liquid.  "Take these potions.  Maker knows what we will face."

Taasa only nods in response, and stuffs the bottles into the small pack tied to her waist.  They were made of glass, but if Cassandra had been carrying them and fighting without them breaking, Taasa could be assured they wouldn't break under her own fighting conditions.  "Where are all your soldiers?"

"At the forward camp, or fighting," Cassandra answers.  "We're on our own for now."

The pair of woman crest the hill to arrive on a frozen river to their left.  A handful of demons spot them and begin to make their way up the bank.  It was oddly comforting to the qunari that Cassandra says nothing as she draws her sword and pulls her shield in front of her, leaving the qunari to draw her staff from her back and begin to fire bolts of cold magic at the enemies coming down upon her.  She fires a flash of fire from her palm to panic the shade, not that being set aflame really mattered much to a demon.  With the fight concluded, Cassandra waits for Taasa down at the bank's slope.  Sword sheathed and staff strapped to the qunari's back, the pair continues across the frozen river's surface.

The next fight proceeds in the same fashion; Cassandra rushes forward with sword and shield, and Taasa fires bolts from her staff in support.  One might think -- if they didn't know the qunari -- that she would feel inferior to others with prowess with bladed weapons, but Taasa could cause as much, or more, damage to foes as one trained with bladed weapons.  She had come to accept a supportive role in combat because of her lower capacity for close-quarters fighting, and took pride in taking down foes by herself and with only a staff in her hands.  Magic was dangerous, yes, and the Qunari of all people knew this with how they collared their mages, but Taasa grew up away from that restrictive life, though with the knowledge that she was a living weapon.

She and Cassandra continue up the bank, silence between them.  It was fine with Taasa; she almost preferred silence to the inane small talk that happened between party members that felt the need to fill the silence around them.  It was up one hill and down another; Ferelden was a hilly country, Taasa had found.

Another comet burst sent down more demons to the frozen river surface.  It had become almost a pattern already, where Cassandra rushed forward with sword drawn and shield at her torso, while Taasa held back and fired bolts from her staff both in support of the warrior and defense of herself.  After pulling gold from a forgotten corpse, she moved on yet again, up a flight of stone stairs dusted with snow and ash.  The stairs' incline was steep, but Taasa had seen some of the hills in the country -- they were worse.

"We're getting close to the rift.  You can hear the fighting," Cassandra remarks.

"Who's fighting?" Taasa calls back, reaching the top of the stairs.

"You'll see soon.  We must help them."

As the pair of women reach the top of the hill, Taasa sees the bridge that had fallen out from underneath them on their right, burning.  She proceeds forward, over a ledge, and drops down, drawing her staff from her back.  There were two human soldiers in uniforms like her own, an elf with a staff in his hands, and a dwarf with a crossbow all fighting a small host of demons.  The only possible place they could have come from is the rift glowing green in the periphery of her vision.  Thinking no further on it, Taasa sees Cassandra rush forward with sword drawn and begins to fire bolts from her staff to defeat the wave of demons that had come through the rift.  When they had been defeated, the elf grabbed Taasa's hand -- which she noticed had been glowing around the rift -- and pulled her palm up toward the rift.  "Quickly!  Before more come through!" he shouts.  The mark on her hand flickers wildly, and Taasa stumbles as the rift closes and her hand is released.  Her head snaps toward the elf with a deep frown in her brow.

"What did you do?" she nearly shouts.

" _I_ did nothing.  The credit is yours."

Taasa glances down at the mark on her hand, no longer flickering.  "You mean this."

"Whatever magic placed the Breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand," the elf says.  Taasa looks down at it as it begins to flicker again.  "I theorized that the mark might be able to close the rifts that have opened in the Breach's wake, and it seems I was correct."

"Meaning it could close the Breach itself," Cassandra adds, approaching the elf and the qunari.

"Possibly," the elf remarks to Cassandra.  He then turns back to Taasa.  "It seems you hold the key to our salvation."

"Good to know.  Here I thought we'd be ass-deep in demons forever."  Taasa's head turns to find the source of the voice, the dwarf with the crossbow behind them, fixing his glove.  He approaches the three others as Taasa turns.  "Varric Tethras.  Rogue, storyteller, and occasionally, unwelcome tagalong."  He winks at Cassandra at the last item on his list, and Taasa glances at Cassandra to see her scowl.

Taasa isn't sure how to respond, but she had noticed the crossbow the moment she had stepped down off the ledge.  Not even her mercenary band used them very often; only two of the men were trained in using them, though only one was available to the company at any one time.  What else was she to say to a dwarf she's only just met?  "That's...a nice crossbow you have there."

The dwarf smiles fondly and turns his head to try and look at the weapon strapped to his back.  "Ah, isn't she?  Bianca and I have been through a lot together."

Taasa quirks a brow.  "You named your crossbow Bianca?"

"Of course.  And she'll be great company in the valley."

"Absolutely not," Cassandra chimes in, stepping forward.  "Your help is appreciated, Varric, but -- "

Varric cuts her off, still cheery.  "Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker?  Your soldiers aren't in control anymore.  You  _need_ me."

Cassandra makes a disgusted noise and turns away, taking a few steps away from the group.  Then the elf steps up.  "My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions.  I am pleased to see you still live."  His first sentence makes it clear to Taasa that he acknowledges the tension between Cassandra and Varric, but moves on easily to forward the objective.

"He means, 'I kept that mark from killing you while you slept,'" Varric says.

Taasa glances to Varric as he speaks and then back to Solas.  "You seem to know a great deal about it all."

"Like you, Solas is an apostate," Cassandra remarks, having turned toward the group again.

"I think  _all_ mages are now apostates, Cassandra."  Solas shifts his weight from foot to foot.  "My journeys through the Fade have allowed to me know much, far beyond the experience of any Circle mage."  He turns to Cassandra.  "Cassandra, you should know.  The magic here is unlike any I have seen.  Your prisoner is indeed a mage, but I cannot imagine any mage having such power."

Cassandra simply nods in response.  "Understood."  She begins to move forward.  "We must get to the forward camp quickly."

Solas moves to follow her and Taasa stands back for a moment.  Varric approaches to stand by her side and says, "Well...Bianca's excited."

Taasa rolls her eyes and follows the three over a wooden barrier.  "This way, down the bank.  The road ahead is blocked," Cassandra calls from a short distance ahead of the qunari.  "We must move quickly."

But it seemed that the three were almost waiting for her, as she jogged forward, they followed.  A rock face to the left and a frozen creek to their right over the bank, Taasa continues forward, assuring herself that Cassandra will provide direction should she make a wrong turn, but the path was relatively well laid out anyway.  "Demons ahead!" Solas calls as they come to the base of the bank.

"Glad you brought me now, Seeker?" Varric calls to Cassandra.  No one seems to be paying attention to light banter, however, as the four of them began their assault; Cassandra on the front line with sword and shield, Varric positioned away from the field firing bolts from his crossbow, and both Solas and Taasa firing bolts from their staves.  Solas frequently called upon a barrier, alerting Taasa to the fact he was likely trained in a similar way to her.

After exploring a burning cottage and one occupied by a corpse, Taasa made her way up another set of snow-covered stairs to a plateau before yet another set of stairs unfolded before her.  She supposed carving stairs into stone was the only plausible way to ascend these mountains.  "So... _are_ you innocent?" Varric asks casually.

"I don't remember what happened," Taasa answers.

"That'll get you every time.  Should've spun a story."

"That's what  _you_ would have done," Cassandra adds.  It seemed to Taasa that Cassandra and Varric knew each other before this had happened, but perhaps she could ask either of them later, when they _weren't_ urgently rushing toward an enormous tear in the sky.

"It's more believable, and less prone to result in premature execution," Varric tosses back, more to Cassandra than to Taasa.  The qunari rolls her eyes both at Varric's continued nonchalance and the handful of demons at the top of the hill.  The fight proceeds much as the last one did, though it was quicker due to the lack of enemies and the combat effectiveness of two ranged fighters against each other.

The fight ends with sheathing swords and weapons returned to straps on backs.  There's blood spattered on everyone's armor, but they all seem to pay little mind to it, Taasa eventually notices.  She's had copious amounts poured on much worse places.  "I hope Leliana made it through all this," Cassandra says.

"She's resourceful, Seeker," Varric reassures her.  Taasa gets the increasing feeling she's the stranger in all of this, that these people already know each other's intimate details.  It feels almost as if Taasa is entering her company again, seventeen and an outsider.  But she remembers these people are following her, even if Cassandra is technically leading her to their destination.  Absently, Taasa wonders how much further it is.

"We will see for ourselves at the forward camp.  We are almost there," Solas adds.

Well, that answers that question.  The party ascends another hill as they chat, Taasa leading up another flight of stone stairs.  "Another rift!" Cassandra yells, drawing her sword.

"We must seal it!  Quickly!" Solas calls, taking his staff from his back.  Taasa removes her own staff from its straps and begins to fire bolts at the demons pouring through the rift.

"They keep coming!  Help us!" a soldier calls from the door.

Varric fires bolts from his crossbow, Cassandra slashes her sword, and Taasa and Solas fire bolts from their staves.  The demons are dispatched quickly, their...energy...seeming to be transferred back to the rift when each demon had been defeated.  "Hurry -- use the mark!" Solas calls.

Taasa approaches the rift and holds her palm to it like Solas had done with her hand at the first rift.  Some sort of link establishes between the mark and the rift, her hand seeming to vibrate as the rift is sealed.  She pulls her hand away sharply, and the rift is sealed, the mark flickering away again.  "The rift is gone!  Open the gate!" Cassandra calls.

"Right away, Lady Cassandra!" a soldier calls in response, stepping aside to let the party through the large wooden doors in front of them.  They led through to what Taasa assumed was the forward camp, populated by soldiers along a bridge.

"We are clear for the moment.  Well done."  Taasa can hear a smile in the elf's voice.

"Whatever that thing on your hand is, it's useful," Varric remarks, slightly sarcastically.  The qunari snorts quietly.

After a moment, Taasa hears a familiar voice on the wind.  It was the voice of the other woman who had come into Taasa's cell with Cassandra.  "We must prepare the soldiers!" she all but shouts to an unknown party.

They respond a moment later, tone heated.  "We will do no such thing."

"The prisoner must get to the Temple of Sacred Ashes!  It is out only chance!" the hooded woman throws back.  Taasa sees who she's speaking with now; a human man, dressed in robes that she felt she should recognize.  In truth, she likely knew what the robes represented, but needed a jog of memory.

"You have already caused enough trouble without resorting to this exercise in futility."  Taasa approaches the table at which the man and the hooded woman stand, clear discontent in his voice and on his face.  "Ah, here they come."

The hooded woman steps forward.  "You made it."  She turns to the robed man.  "Chancellor Roderick, this is -- "

"I know who she is."  Taasa frowns, staring down at the man.  He seems to look back up at her with either no fear or fear that is very well masked.  "As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux to face execution."  Ah, the Chantry.  That was right.  Now Taasa remembered.

Cassandra steps forward.  "Order me?  You are a glorified clerk.  A bureaucrat!"

"And you are a thug, but a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry!" the robed man spits back.

"We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor," the hooded woman interjects.  She then turns to Cassandra.  "As you well know."

The robed man seems only to become further angered.  "Justinia is dead!  We must elect a replacement, and obey  _her_ orders on the matter!"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," Taasa adds, finally allowed a word in.

"You shouldn't even  _be_ here!" the robed man yells.  Cassandra approaches the table.  "Call a retreat, Seeker.  Our position here is hopeless."

"We can stop this before it's too late," she responds, surprisingly calm.

"How?" the robed man asks.  Taasa can hear the fear in his voice now.  "You won't survive long enough to reach the Temple, even with all your soldiers."

"We must get to the Temple.  It's the quickest route."

"But not the safest."  Eyes turn toward the hooded woman as she speaks.  "Our forces could charge as a distraction while we go through the mountains."

"We lost contact with an entire squad on that path," Cassandra replies.  "It's too risky."

"Listen to me."  Attention returns to the robed man, much calmer than he was before, much more afraid than he showed previously.  "Abandon this now before more lives are lost!"  A boom sounds as the Breach expands, as does the mark on Taasa's hand.  She's practically used to it by now, holding her hand steady as best she can, bearing the pain as the mark flickers and dies.

Cassandra turns to her.  "How do  _you_ think we should proceed?"

"Now you're asking me what  _I_ think?" she returns.

"You have the mark," Solas responds.

"And you are the one we must keep alive.  Since we cannot decide on our own..."  Cassandra tails off, waiting for a response from the qunari.  She sighs.

"I say we charge.  I won't survive long enough for your trial.  Whatever happens, happens now."  Taasa and Varric begin to move out of the camp, Cassandra and Solas hanging behind.

"Leliana, bring everyone left in the valley.  Everyone," Taasa hears Cassandra say to the hooded woman.  They then part, the party moving out of the camp and forward to the Temple.

"On your head be the consequences, Seeker," the robed man calls after them.  Taasa wants to fire a bolt of flame at his head, but refrains with great effort.  The party continues to move forward, across the snowy path.  They reach the top of the hilly path and there are soldiers scrambling,  _retreating_ , calling their fellows away from the demons in the field.  Another small flight of stone stairs leads Taasa and the party to a small camp, tables set up with soldiers around them, a comet blast from the Breach killing another only a few feet away at the archway.

The party charges over a ledge to meet a host of demons falling from a rift.  Taasa draws her staff from her back and begins to fire bolts at the demons, wood twirling in her hands with the mastery of a mage who has had decades of training.  "How many rifts  _are_ there?" Varric asks as Taasa seals the rift with her mark.  She pulls her hand away sharply, as she did with the last one, and it is sealed.

Solas approaches, glancing down at the mark on the qunari's hand.  "Sealed, as before.  You are becoming quite proficient at this."

"Let's hope it works on the big one," Varric says as he approaches and stops for a moment.

"Lady Cassandra, you managed to close the rift?  Well done."  The voice comes from a human man in armor rushing up to meet the party.  Cassandra seems to know him as well.

"Do not congratulate me, Commander.  It was all the prisoner's doing," she responds, turning toward Taasa.

The qunari steps forward as she's addressed.  "Is it?" the armored man asks.  "I hope they're right about you.  We've lost a lot of people getting you here."

"I'm your only hope," Taasa returns bitterly.

The armored man only eyes Taasa for a moment before turning to Cassandra and pointing the way down.  "The way to the Temple should be clear.  Leliana will try to meet you there."

"Then we'd best move quickly.  Give us time, Commander."

The armored man turns his eye back to Taasa, voice low when he speaks.  "Maker watch over you -- for all our sakes."  He then jogs to the soldiers who are escaping the battlefield, some wounded.  Cassandra turns back toward Taasa, who takes the look Cassandra gives her as a cue to keep moving.  She jumps down off a high ledge, grunting quietly on impact, and begins to walk through the devastated field.

"The Temple of Sacred Ashes," Solas murmurs, sounding in awe of it.

"What's left of it," Varric murmurs in addition.

"That is where you walked out of the Fade, and our soldiers found you," Cassandra says in a quiet voice.  "They say a woman was behind you in the rift.  No one knows who she was."

Taasa warily steps forward, deliberately planting her feet with each step she takes.  She's hyper alert for anything to appear, for anything to fight, but all around her and the party are charred corpses and slowly burning fires, the Breach looming ahead of them.  They wind around a path, coming up to a railing, the Breach all but a few feet from them.

It was monstrous, more so than Taasa had come to believe.  It had seemed so small from further away, each step bringing her closer toward it without her entirely realizing it.  But now it was here, in front of her, looming, casting everything around them in a faint, sickly green glow.  If the rift itself wasn't ominous enough, the color and connection to the sky above only made it worse.  Taasa was afraid of little in life; possession was certainly towards the top of the list, her family being murdered up there as well, but the list was relatively short.  And it seemed she had found another thing to add.

"The Breach is a long way up..."  Taasa normally would have laughed, since the comment had come from Varric, but under the current circumstances, it didn't warrant even a chuckle.

"You're here.  Thank the Maker."  Taasa turns to see the hooded woman approach with a quiver of arrows on her back and soldiers only a foot or so behind her, coming down the path.

Cassandra points to various places around the ruins.  "Leliana, have your men take up positions around the Temple."  She nods and turns to direct her men.  Cassandra walks back to Taasa and looks up at her, eerily backlit by the Breach.  "This is your chance to end this.  Are you ready?"

Taasa looks up at the Breach.  "I'm assuming you have a plan to get me up there?"

Solas shakes his head.  "No.  This rift was the first, and it is the key.  Seal it, and perhaps we seal the Breach."

"Then let's find a way down," Cassandra says.  She turns.  "And be careful."

Taasa turns to the right, the only foreseeable way down to the rift, and slowly begins to walk amongst the rocks and debris.  She scans the ground for anything of note, for a way down, but sees nothing.

"Now is the hour of our victory.  Bring forth the sacrifice."

The voice comes from everywhere and nowhere, making Taasa start, eyes darting around for the source of the voice.  Her body tenses, waiting for someone or something to spring out of a corner or a break in the rock and attack them.  "What are we hearing?" Cassandra asks, the first hint of fear heard in her voice since Taasa was brought out of her cell.

"At a guess, the person who created the Breach," Solas answers.

Taasa wanders along the edge of the ruins a moment longer and comes across a large glowing red structure.  It seemed naturally occurring, but the eerie red glow it gave off made Taasa think otherwise.  The rest of the party seemed to know what it was, however, and was highly wary of it.  "You know that stuff is red lyrium, Seeker..." Varric says with a waver in his voice.

"I see it, Varric," Cassandra responds.

"But what's it  _doing_ here?"

"Magic could have drawn on lyrium from the Temple, corrupted it..." Solas wonders aloud, perhaps trying to puzzle through the mystery.

Varric snorts.  "It's evil.  Whatever you do, don't touch it."

Well, that answers that question as well.  Taasa of course knew of lyrium, as a mage, but had never heard of or seen this red variety.  If all three of her party are wary of it, and Varric is openly denouncing it, then perhaps Taasa should actually stay away from it.

"Keep the sacrifice still."

"Someone, help me!"

"That is Divine Justinia's voice!" Cassandra calls.

Taasa has nothing to say to any of the things her party members were saying, simply focusing on the task at hand: find a way down.  She turns a corner to find a set of ruined stairs, half carved out by the explosion here.  The explosion she survived.  Taasa jumps off a ledge, to be the same level with the Breach, and she hears the rest of her party jump down behind her.

It was even worse this close.  It was bigger than the rifts they had encountered on the way here, and it just seemed to... _sit there_.  Waiting.  Waiting to swallow the world.

Her mark flickered on her hand, that sickly green to match the Breach.  The light flickers wildly and they hear voices again.  "Someone, help me!"

"What's going on here?"

 _That's impossible_ , Taasa thinks, hearing her own voice.  Of course, the rest of the party realize it too, but Cassandra is the only one who speaks.  She sounds confused.  "That was your voice.  Most Holy called out to you, but..."

The Breach begins to emit some sort of vision, showing a shadowed figure and a woman Taasa could only assume was the Divine, the leader of the Chantry as Cassandra had explained to her earlier, on the bridge.  She was...somehow bound and the only thing anyone could see of the shadowed figure was glowing red eyes, reminding Taasa of the red lyrium the party had spotted only a few moments before.  The vision showed Taasa running into the same room as the figure and the Divine, frowning.  "What's going on here?"

The Divine looks to Taasa.  "Run while you can!  Warn them!"

"We have an intruder."  The deep voice came from the shadowy figure, and it turns and points to Taasa's form in the vision.  "Slay the Qunari."

The vision burns away in a flash of blinding light, causing everyone to shield their eyes for a moment.  When the light burns away, Cassandra angrily speaks up.  "You  _were_ there!  Who attacked?  And the Divine, is she...?  Was this vision true?  What are we seeing?"

"I don't remember!" Taasa throws back.

Solas had approached the Breach while Cassandra had confronted Taasa.  "Echoes of what happened here.  The Fade bleeds into this place."  Cassandra walks up to him, Taasa turning to face him while he speaks.  "This rift is not closed, but it is sealed...albeit temporarily.  I believe that with the mark, the rift can be opened, and then sealed properly and safely.  However, opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side."

"That means demons!  Stand ready!" Cassandra calls out to everyone.  Inquisition soldiers rush out, draw swords, Leliana approaches, everyone readies themselves for a fight.  Archers draw bows and nock arrows, and the party stands ready with weapons in hand.  Taasa looks to Cassandra, who nods and draws her sword.  Taasa extends her marked palm to the Breach and the connection is established.  The rift sparks and Taasa stumbles backward, the rift spawning a demon away from them.  When it comes through the rift, it roars, thudding onto the ground.  "Now!" Cassandra yells, raising her sword.  Archers fire arrows, but they only bounce off the armored skin of the demon, making it angry.  Taasa stands against a wall with her staff and begins to fire bolts of magic, cold damage bursting from her staff alternated with bursts of flame from her palm.  "We must strip its defenses!  Wear it down!" Cassandra calls.

She's right.  And Taasa has never been a frontline fighter, not as a mage.  She stands on the sidelines and the back of the battlefield and fires bolts from her staff to assist the frontline fighters and defend herself.  The fight will last forever if they simply continue to attack it with conventional weapons, even if that is all they have.  But, at the same time, it isn't.  They have Taasa, and the mark.  As quickly as possible, Taasa approaches the rift and extends her mark toward it, connection established.  She pulls her hand sharply away and the rift fires a pulse across the field.  It only affects the demon as it falls to a knee.  "The demon is vulnerable!" Cassandra yells.

Taasa smiles at Cassandra's commands, at how she strives to control the battlefield even when she perhaps is the only one listening.  Oh, Taasa hears Cassandra -- her voice projects far and loudly -- but she's focused on firing bolts from her staff and magic from her palms.  She summons a barrier for the soldiers fighting alongside Cassandra and fires another burst of flame from her palm.  When the demon stands, Taasa summons an explosion under the demon's feet, setting it aflame.  Solas frequently snap freezes the demon, the combination of flame and ice having much less of an effect on the demon's armored skin as opposed to a human's soft flesh.

Taasa fires the rift pulse three more times before the demon is able to be defeated, and the rift pours out two waves of lesser demons in the meantime, shades to add to the pride demon stomping across the field.  When the demon is finally defeated, Cassandra calls out, "Now!  Seal the rift!"

Taasa approaches the rift and extends her marked palm toward it, wondering if she has much control over how fervently the mark works.  She tries to pour all her concentration into the mark for it to seal the rift.  When it does, Taasa is thrown backward by the force of the sealed rift.  She doesn't hear the sound wave that spreads across the sky because she is knocked unconscious by the blast.


	2. You're Back in Haven, My Lady

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've decided to make each chapter title a quote from the section of the game i'm writing from. i'm also considering the current title more and more as it lingers.

She starts awake.  The first thing Taasa notices is how she's not wearing any armor, not even the ill-fitting coat that was on her when she awoke in the cell.  Instead, she was wearing a comfortable cloth outfit, something perhaps the others thought would suit her.  They weren't entirely wrong, but she would have done without the painted buttons.

The next thing Taasa notices is the elf that walks into the room and sees the qunari, dropping whatever was in her arms in surprise.  Taasa sits up abruptly.  "I didn't know you were awake, I swear!" she squeaks.

"Where am I?" she demands of the elf.

The elf drops to her hands and knees, facing the floor when she speaks.  "I beg your forgiveness and your blessing.  I am but a humble servant.  You are back in Haven, my lady.  They say you saved us.  The Breach stopped growing, just like the mark on your hand."  Taasa looks down at the mark as it flickers.  The elf looks back up at her, though still on her hands and knees.  "It's all anyone has talked about for the last three days.

"So now the trial?"

"I don't know anything about that, miss."  She stands and begins backing away toward the door.  "I'm certain Lady Cassandra would want to know you've awakened.  She said 'at once.'"

Taasa stands from the bed.  "And where is she?"

"In the Chantry, with the Lord Chancellor.  'At once,' she said."  Finally, the elf turns and scampers out the door of the small cottage, leaving Taasa with the box she dropped on the floor when she saw Taasa awake and the qunari's thoughts.  She arches her back and stretches, seeing a few sheets of paper on the table in the corner, and the ill-fitting coat hung over an empty cage next to the table.  She walks over to the table in two strides, reading the paper.  It read:

> Vain hope: Someone better at this than me takes over before the survivor expires.  Notes in case.
> 
> \--Day One--
> 
>  

> Clammy.  Shallow breathing.  Pulse over-fast.  Not responsive.  Pupils dilated.  
> Mage says her scarring "mark" is thrumming with unknown magic.  
> Wish we could station a templar here, just in case.

Taasa snorts and rolls eyes, placing the paper back down on the table.   _Vashedan_ healers.  Of course they would want to place a templar in the room with her, in case she unconsciously casted a spell in her...whatever state she had woken up from.  With a sigh, she turns from the table and picks up the ill-fitting coat from the empty cage adjacent to the table.  Taasa quietly removes the cloth uniform, button by button, and places the pieces on the bed.  The air in the cottage is warm, thanks to the hearth in the middle of the small room, and though her original coat fits awkwardly, it's quite warm, which she's thankful for.  She can see the light snow falling outside the small window.

She bends down to see what was in the box the elf servant dropped; it's a few raw herbs, but Taasa knows at least the elfroot will be crucial for health potions.  This village should have an apothecary, yes?  Taasa pockets the herbs and opens the door to the bracing winter air.  There's a small camp outside, but as she walks through the lines of soldiers, it seems not so small after all.  Two other cottages stood to the qunari's left and right as she exited, a large set of wooden doors down a set of stone stairs, and another set of stone stairs to her left.  Taasa ascends them, seeing a trio of tents pitched around a burning fire.  She can see an actual building to her right, another cottage to her left, and yet another set of stone stairs to lead up to the second tier of tents pitched on the ground in front of her.  The large, imposing building directly in front of Taas must be the Chantry, where the elf servant said Cassandra was.

The qunari ascends the yet another stone staircase -- a commonality in Ferelden, it seems -- and curls around the corner toward the large wooden doors of the Chantry.  Truth be told, Taasa had never set foot in a Chantry.  She had grown up in the Free Marches, where there is not a lack of a Chantry even in the smaller villages, but she was qunari -- a Vashoth qunari.  Vashoth or Tal-Vashoth, they rarely, if ever, believed in the Maker.  Tal-Vashoth turned from the Qun and became violent mercenaries and bandits, not one of the faithful of the Chantry.  Most people of Thedas saw qunari as cold-blooded killers in the first place, so a qunari under the Chantry sounded as absurd as Taasa being worshipped by any of these humans for the mark on her hand.

Chantry brothers and sisters clad in robes of red, white, and gold stand outside the doors in two lines on each side as Taasa approaches.  They stay silent as she nears, as much as she thinks they're holding in their jibes and insults.  When she pushes the doors open, it's quiet and warm inside.  Sets of candles burn on tables along the walls sectioned off by tall, thick pillars, flames burn bright inside torches hung on the pillars, and a few doors are set into various places on the walls.  She'll explore them later, and instead heads for the door at the end of hall framed in a pair of torches.  As she approaches, Taasa can hear voices -- clearly Cassandra and the robed man, whatever she and Leliana had called him on the bridge.

"Have you gone completely mad?"  She hears the robed man's voice first, angry and near spitting at Cassandra.  Taasa slows as she reaches the door, wanting to listen to a bit of the conversation before she interrupts.  "She should be taken to Val Royeaux immediately, to be tried by whomever becomes Divine!"

"I do not believe she is guilty."  Taasa is lucky that she hasn't entered the room yet -- this statement from Cassandra has the qunari taken aback, the emotion clearly written on her face.  The woman who had seemed convinced that Taasa had been the one causing the explosion that had killed so many people, including the Divine, was now telling this colossal prick that she believes Taasa is innocent.  Even if she hadn't known Cassandra for a short amount of time -- try three days -- she could tell that the human woman was one who little often said anything she did not believe in.

"The Qunari failed, Seeker.  The Breach is still in the sky.  For all we know, she intended it this way!" the robed man returns, adamant in his belief of Taasa's guilt.

"I do not believe that."  Taasa is more and more blown away the more she hears from the warrior woman.  The qunari never had much of an opinion on humans, if anything, she figured they were a mixture of pricks and halfway decent people.  Cassandra was proving to fall in neither category in the short time that Taasa had known her.

"That is not for you to decide.  Your duty is to serve the Chantry."  The robed man is  _very_ adamant.  Taasa is unsure if she wants to barge in to defend herself or Cassandra.  Perhaps it's both.

"My duty is to serve the principles on which the Chantry was founded, Chancellor.  As is yours."  Taasa is not unique in her general distrust of people; many qunari are distrustful of other races because of the stigma that surrounds qunari.  Even those under the Qun actively hunt their deserters because of an immense amount of distrust.  It was trait almost bred into the qunari as a people.  However, Cassandra has earned Taasa's admiration quickly; trust will come later.

Regardless of whatever other thoughts were swirling through the qunari's head, she's heard enough of this conversation and opens the door, drawing all eyes in the room to her.  The robed Chantry man stands to the side of the table in the room with crossed arms, Taasa saw a pair of templars guarding the door as she entered, Leliana is standing next to Cassandra at a table, and Cassandra is bent over the table, books and candles laid out in front of her.  "Chain her.  I want her prepared for travel to the capital for trial," the Chantry man announces.

Cassandra stands upright.  "Disregard that, and leave us."  Without looking behind her, Taasa hears the templars salute and exit the room, closing the door behind them.

The Chantry man scowls at Cassandra.  "You walk a dangerous line, Seeker."

She approaches him, Taasa noticing how Cassandra's face is almost permanently scowling.  "The Breach is stable, but it is still a threat.  I will not ignore it."   _Good to know someone is planning on doing something about this,_ Taasa thinks.

"Why do I have the feeling you're going to ask for my help again?" Taasa asks, drawing eyes to her again.

"The Breach is still in the sky!  Your  _help_ is not needed!"

Cassandra sounds near gritting her teeth when she speaks.  "Have a care, Chancellor.  The Breach is not the only threat we face."

Leliana approaches now.  "Someone was behind the explosion at the Conclave.  Someone Most Holy did not expect."  She glances to Cassandra.  "Perhaps they died with the others -- "  Her eyes turn back to the Chancellor with a frown.  " -- or have allies who yet live."

" _I_ am a suspect?"

"You, and many others," Leliana answers.

"But  _not_ the prisoner," the Chancellor sneers, eyes looking over to Taasa, large and imposing as qunari are.

"I heard the voices in the Temple.  The Divine called to her for help," Cassandra says, looking to Taasa as well.

The Chancellor all but glares at Taasa before looking back to Cassandra.  "So her survival, that  _thing_ on her hand -- all a coincidence?"  He sounds extremely incredulous, and Taasa can't help but at least slightly believe him.  Even if she held no faith in a human god, she found it hard to believe it was simply coincidence that she survived the Fade with nothing but a strange mark on her hand with the ability to seal rifts.

"Providence," Cassandra returns.  "The Maker sent her to us in our darkest hour."  The warrior woman's eyes to turn to Taasa again, face soft, almost as if she were in  _awe_ of the qunari, having nothing to do with her size and stature.  She truly believed a  _qunari_ was sent to these people by a god Taasa had no faith in.

In fact, Taasa snorted.  "You have got to be kidding."

Cassandra frowns.  "Why do you find this so hard to believe?"

Taasa snorts again.  "Are you seriously asking that question?"

Cassandra wrinkles her nose, but says nothing and turns from the qunari.  Leliana remains, and looks toward Taasa with a diluted frown on her own face.  "The Breach still remains, and your mark is our only hope of closing it."  She speaks as if to redirect the conversation, which is likely for the best.

The Chancellor uncrosses arms from his chest that had been there since he had been accused.  "This is  _not_ for you to decide."

Cassandra returns to the table and slams down a rather thick, leather-bound book, the symbol on the front glinting dully in the candlelight.  Taasa notices it is the same symbol that is marked on Cassandra's armor.  She points to the book while nearly sneering at the Chancellor.  "You know what this is, Chancellor.  A writ from the Divine, granting us the authority to act."  The warrior shifts her stance, glancing at Taasa as she speaks.  "As of this moment, I declare the Inquisition reborn."  She returns her eyes to the Chancellor and begins walking toward him; the Chancellor almost instinctively begins to back away.  "We will close the Breach, we will find those responsible, and we will restore order with or without your approval."  The Chancellor watches Cassandra's stern face, glances to Taasa and then back to Cassandra, but says nothing and simply walks from the room.  Cassandra turns, scratches absently at the back of her head with a gloved hand, and waves the Chancellor off with a dismissive hand.  

Leliana steps forward, gazing at the book as she speaks.  "This is the Divine's directive: Rebuild the Inquisition of old.  Find those who will stand against the chaos."  She looks up at Taasa as she finishes her sentence.  Cassandra joins them at the table again, standing between Taasa and Leliana.  "We aren't ready; we have no leader, no numbers, and now, no Chantry support."

Cassandra is watching Leliana as she speaks.  "But we have no choice."  Then her eyes turn on Taasa.  "We must act now, with you at our side."

Finally allowed the chance to speak -- a lack of words from the qunari was becoming more and more common as of late -- Taasa has questions.  "What is 'the Inquisition of old' exactly?"

"It preceded the Chantry: people who banded together to restore order in a world gone mad," Leliana answered.

"After, they laid down their banner and formed the Templar Order.  But the templars have lost their way," Cassandra adds.  "We need those who can do what must be done, united under a single banner once more.

"Aren't you still part of the Chantry?" Taasa inquires.

Cassandra snorts, and a sly sort of smirk curls a corner of her mouth.  "Is that what you see?"

"The Chantry will take time to find a new Divine, and then it will wait for her direction."  It seemed there was an unspoken order of both women injecting comments to questions the other answers, this comment added by Leliana this time.

"But  _we_ cannot wait," Cassandra intones firmly.  "So many grand clerics died at the Conclave...No, we are on our own.  Perhaps forever."  The finality of her words made Taasa think she was cutting short a line of thought better reserved for when she had time to think on it, instead of now, when beginning to form plans to accomplish a task perhaps as large as the whole of Thedas.

"What if I refuse?" Taasa asks slowly, unsure if she wanted to ask the question or not.  It had not been ruled out as a possibility, but Taasa had a hard time ignoring the mark on her hand that seemed to flicker its sickly green whenever mentioned in conversation.  However, she still had to ask, if in fact she was still considering the possibility of abandoning this altogether and trying to find her mercenary band again.  Even so, Taasa knew it would near impossible to resume operations as they had been before the Breach opened.  Damn.  Any way she thought about it, Taasa wasn't sure she wanted any of the options available to her, but there was also no choice in that matter.

So it surprises Taasa what Leliana says in response.  "You can go, if you wish."  Really?  They would let her leave that easily?  Simply walk off the premises of the camp and never look back?  Wasn't it Leliana who was saying a few moments before that the mark was the only hope of closing the Breach?  So why would Leliana be so easy in letting 'the only hope' slip through her fingers?  There had to be a catch.

Cassandra delivered the remains of the answer Taasa was looking for.  "You should know that while some believe you chosen, many still think you guilty.  The Inquisition can only protect you if you are with us."

"We can also help  _you_ ," Leliana adds.

"It will not be easy if you stay, but you cannot pretend this has not changed you."  This time, Taasa was aware of her emotions, and prevented her shock from registering on her face at Cassandra's words.  It was if she had read Taasa's mind only a moment before when she had asked her original question.

But Taasa truly has a decision to make.  Will she stay and help restore the order destroyed by the Breach, or will she refuse and leave to find her mercenaries again?  Of course, it wasn't as simple as that, given the response from both Cassandra and Leliana.  It would not be easy regardless of what path she chooses, but...perhaps the choice of staying and helping this Inquisition was inherently easier than leaving it to its fate.  The Inquisition could offer Taasa protection -- it wasn't as if she had ever exactly needed protection in the whole of her life, even as a powerful mage, but when a vast amount of the people of Thedas believed she was responsible for the murder of hundreds of Chantry members, the Divine included, perhaps that was a sign to the qunari that she was meant to stay with the Inquisition, was meant to help them.  And if she ended up leading the Inquisition, it would certainly be a step up from a mercenary band in the Free Marches.

She stands a bit straighter, of course raising the attention of both the woman in the room.  "I agree.  For now."  It wasn't as if her position had been explained to her, though Taasa assumed it would be copious amounts of improvisation and revision as time passed, but as much as she agreed with the thoughts in her head regarding the protection of the Inquisition, she also knew nothing of what she would be doing if she wholly accepted.  So call it temporary acceptance, a trial period, though she doubted it would be easier to leave when she was in the thick of it compared to leaving now.

"That is all we ask," Leliana responds with a respectful nod.

"Help us fix this before it is too late."  Cassandra turns to face Taasa fully and extends her hand.  Taasa turns to face Cassandra in turn and glances down at the woman's hand.  There's a moment of hesitance before she grabs Cassandra's hand and gives it a firm shake -- one that is returned, much to Taasa's happiness -- but she did just agree to help, even if she considered it a trial run.  Their hands separate, and Cassandra even gives a small smile, a gesture so simple...but it belonged on such a battle-hardened face.  It only added to a beauty that Taasa had recognized even as she had been accused of this catastrophe.  "Come then."

* * *

 

Taasa stood at the head of the steps that led to the Chantry doors, surrounded only by Leliana, the fair-haired man met on the battlefield a few days previous, and another woman Taasa had not yet met.  Soldiers and gentry alike stood in lines along the worn path, watching in awe of the qunari standing up ahead of them.  The blacksmith had fitted new armor for her, which fit substantially better than the previous coat, but still felt awkward, likely because it needed breaking in.  The faces of the people down below turned and watched as Cassandra came walking up the path, such a commanding air about her as she strode with a hand on the pommel of the sword attached at her hip.  She ascended the stairs to stand by Taasa, giving the qunari a once-over in the new armor.  A flag unrolling over the Chantry door sounded behind them, and Cassandra nodded at no one in particular before she turned to face the crowd.

The Inquisition was born again, and Taasa, along with the four other people surrounding here, were at its head.

As the crowd dispersed, Cassandra and the other three disappeared inside the Chantry again, leaving Taasa a moment to herself.  Once out of earshot, she released a relieved breath.  There was a monumental task ahead of them, and hardly anyone had much idea of where to even  _begin_  accomplishing it, but ti was something to take one step at a time.  For the moment, Taasa was happy to have a breath of fresh air -- or several.

Behind her was the Chantry, and ahead of her, a small series of tents, one of which was seemingly guarded by a rather cross-sounding woman speaking to a man about supplies or something of that nature.  To her left, a series of three cottages, not unlike the layout of the three cottages she saw when she first woke up.  To her right, the path led down to the other tents, the large building that wasn't the Chantry, and the large set of wooden doors that likely led out to more grounds of the village.  She'd make a cursory run of the village, learn what most buildings were and perhaps speak with some of the people before returning to the Chantry.  Likely, Cassandra was planning with the other three their first step.

First, she spoke with the cross woman ahead of her.  Her name was Threnn, and she was the quartermaster for the Inquisition, responsible for supplying the Inquisition.  Solas stood thoughtfully by the three cottages sat together.  Taasa approached, and Solas seemed to leave his thoughts for the moment as she approached him.  "The chosen of Andraste, a blessed hero to save us all."

Taasa frowned.  "I'm no hero."

"Says the one who chose her place."  He turns from her to take a few steps toward the stone stairs aside him, turning to face them and the sky laid out in front of them both.  "I've journeyed deep into the Fade in ancient ruins and battlefields to see the dreams of lost civilizations.  I've watched as hosts of spirits clash to reenact the bloody past in ancient wars both famous and forgotten."  He turns back to her then, almost solemn.  "Every great war has its heroes.  I'm just curious what kind you'll be."

"Unstoppable."

"A pratical thought, but ultimately irrelevant."  Solas turns his gaze out to the ground before them again.  "I will stay then, at least until the Breach has been closed."

"Was that in doubt?"

Solas frowns as he turns his gaze back on her, even looking up as many do.  "I am an apostate mage surrounded by Chantry forces and unlike you, I do not have a divine mark protecting me.  Cassandra has been accommodating, but you understand my caution."

"We have bigger problems at the moment."

He nods.  "That we do.  For now, let us hope either the mages or the templars have the power to seal the Breach."

Taasa nods, sending the end of the conversation.  Solas turns away from her again, and Taasa turns to explore the three cottages surrounding them.  The one to her right was likely a residence, but it was empty at the moment.  The cottage behind her was similar; no resident at the moment, but it was the same layout as the previous.  The third, however, was different.  It was the current home of Haven's apothecary, manned by a rather cross man whom Taasa assumed was a mage, but never asked after.  The man, who told his name was Adan, considers himself more of an alchemist than a healer, but nevertheless is providing potions to the Inquisition.  He was also the man who cared for Taasa in her unconscious state from attempting to seal the Breach, and likely the man who had written that 'patient observation' note Taasa had found in the cottage she had woken up in.

Bidding the man goodbye, Taasa's feet took her to the only other building in Haven that had anything to note about it, since it was the only other building that had any size comparative to the Chantry.  It was, in fact, a tavern, with a squeaky woman by the name of Flissa standing at the bar counter.  A minstrel quietly strummed the strings of a guitar while singing a tune Taasa hadn't heard.  She had a beautiful voice by any standard, a higher pitch but also a melodious sound, quite pleasing to the ear.

The gentry and Chantry members alike stood around Haven, along with Inquisition soldiers.  Finding nothing of interest, Taasa descends the stone stairs to a man selling wares at a table.  However, she needed little from him and proceeded down yet another set of stone stairs through the large wooden doors.  She was right about what lay beyond them, more grounds for the use of the Inquisition.  To her right was a series of tents around which soldiers were training for combat; to her left was a stone structure that housed what looked to be the Inquisition's smithy.

Having finally gained a sense of direction in the village, Taasa turned herself around and began to head for the Chantry.  On her way up one set of stone stairs, she sees Varric standing around the fire blazing by the trio of tents.  He's kneeling by the flame, and looks over to Taasa as she approaches.  "So, now that Cassandra is out of earshot, are you holding up all right?"  He stands and turns to face her.  She almost finds it comical how much he cranes his neck to look up at her.  "I mean, you go from being the most wanted criminal in Thedas to joining the armies of the faithful.  Most people would have spread that out over more than one day."

"None of this shit should have happened."

Varric seems to laugh, a sort of smile playing on his lips.  "I think we're all still trying to figure it out ourselves."  Then he turns solemn.  "For days now, we've been staring at the Breach, watching demons and Maker-knows-what fall out of it.  'Bad for morale' would be an understatement.  I still can't believe anyone was in there and lived."

"I'm still not sure I believe any of this is really happening."  Despite her feelings on the Inquisition and her new alliance with them -- if that was how she wanted to refer to it -- Taasa did have a hard time wrestling with the fact that everything that was happening  _was in fact happening_.

"If this is all just the Maker winding us up, I hope there's a damn good punch line coming.  You might want to consider running at the first opportunity.  I've written enough tragedies to recognize where this is going."  Oh, Varric, you don't know how much you're playing to her thoughts, both past and present.  "Heroes are everywhere, I've seen that.  But the hole in the sky?  That's beyond heroes.  We're going to need a miracle."  With a soft sigh, he turns back to the fire, and Taasa continues on her way to the Chantry.  When she enters, Cassandra is there and easily moves to Taasa's side as she walks in.

"Does it trouble you?" she asks.

Taasa looks down at her mark, faintly and briefly flickering its green.  The pair of women stop walking, and they turn slightly to face each other.  "Not really," Taasa answers with a light shrug.

"We take our victories where we can," Cassandra responds.  "What's important is that your mark is now stable, as is the Breach.  You've given us time, and Solas believes a second attempt might succeed -- provided the mark has more power.  The same level of power used to open the Breach in the first place.  That is not easy to come by."

"I take it you have a plan," Taasa returns, both intrigued and -- honestly -- a bit worried.

"Part of one, at least.  It's a start."  They continue walking, sharing no further words until they stop in the room Taasa had been in before with Cassandra, Leliana, and the Chancellor, except this time the table had a map laid out upon it, with various marks and placemarkers, as well as the three who had stood with the pair of them earlier.  "May I present Commander Cullen, leader of the Inquisition's forces."

Taasa looks to him.  "We met only briefly on the battlefield.  I am pleased to see you still live."

Cassandra gestures to the unknown woman, black hair pulled back into a bun, and yellow dress puffing out in various ruffles.  She held a clipboard with a burning candle cemented at the top.  "This is Lady Josephine Montilyet, our ambassador and chief diplomat."

"You're...much taller than I'd heard."  Taasa almost smiles at the waver in the woman's voice, though she couldn't tell if it was fear or some other emotion that caused it.

"And of course you know Sister Leliana."

Taasa turns to her with a nod.  "My position here involves a degree of..."

"She is our spymaster," Cassandra finishes.

Leliana seems to frown briefly.  "Yes.  Tactfully put, Cassandra."  Taasa can sense the sarcasm in the sister's tone and laughs under her breath.

"That's an impressive set of titles," Taasa remarks, one of the more lighthearted things she's managed to say since this all began.

"I mentioned you mark needs more power to close the Breach for good."  Cassandra begins to steer the conversation in the correct direction.

"Which means we must approach the rebel mages for help," Leliana suggests.

Cullen shakes his head, hand instinctively resting on the pommel of his own sword strapped to his hip, almost identical to the way Cassandra had stoof aside Taasa earlier.  "And I still disagree.  The templars could serve just as well."

Taasa could hear the frown in Cassandra's voice, almost a begrudging tone.  "We need power, Commander.  Enough magic poured into that mark -- "

"Might destroy us all," Cullen finishes.  "Templars could suppress the Breach, weaken it so -- "

"Pure speculation," Leliana interjects.

Taasa rolls her eyes.  If this was going to be how the rest of this endeavor went, perhaps she would regret agreeing to help.  " _I_ was a templar," Cullen returns.  "I know what they're capable of."  Words that bespoke a past trauma.

"Unfortunately, neither group will even speak to us yet," Josephine chimes in, a pen in the hand that wasn't holding the clipboard.  "The Chantry has denounced the Inquisition -- and you, specifically."  She turns to Taasa, addressing her.

"That didn't take long," Taasa remarks, punctuating her sentence with a quiet snort.

"Shouldn't they be busy arguing over who's going to become Divine?" Cullen asks incredulously.

Josephine ignores his question and turns her gaze back on Taasa.  "Some are calling you -- a Qunari -- the 'Herald of Andraste.'  That frightens the Chantry.  The remaining clerics have declared it blasphemy, and we heretics for harboring you."

"Chancellor Roderick's doing, no doubt," Cassandra adds, clearly annoyed, though she looks at Taasa when she speaks.

"It limits our options," Josephine continues.  "Approaching the mages or templars for help is currently out of the question."

"Just how am  _I_ the 'Herald of Andraste?'"  Taasa's brows furrow.

"People saw what you did at the Temple, how you stopped the Breach from growing," Cassandra begins.  "They have also heard about the woman seen in the rift when we first found you.  They believe that was Andraste."

"Even if we tried to stop that view from spreading -- "

Cassandra cuts Leliana off.  "Which we have not."

Leliana shoots a sideways glare at Cassandra before continuing.  "The point is, everyone is talking about you."

"It's quite the title, isn't it?" Cullen asks, smiling slightly when Taasa looks at him.  "How do you feel about that?"

"I'm...not quite sure yet," she answers.

Cullen breathes a chuckle.  "It seems the Chantry had decided it for you."

"People are desperate for a sign of hope.  For some, you're that sign," Leliana says.

"And to others, a symbol of everything that's gone wrong," Josephine adds.

"They're not worried about the Breach?  The real threat?" Taasa asks, annoyed at the Chantry as a whole, really.

"The Chantry recognizes the Breach as a threat, they just don't think we can stop it," Cullen answers.

"There is something you can do," Leliana chimes in, almost sounding happy that they've finally found something to progress the conversation further.  "A Chantry cleric by the name of Mother Giselle has asked to speak to you.  She is not far, and knows those involved far better than I.  Her assistance could be invaluable.

"Why would someone from the Chantry want to speak with a declared heretic?" Taasa asks.  Always questioning, always wanting to know the 'why' of everything.

"She's known to be a reasonable sort.  Perhaps she disagrees with her fellow clerics.  In any event, you'll find Mother Giselle tending to the wounded in the HInterlands near Redcliffe."

"Look for other opportunities to expand the Inquisition influence while you're there," Cullen suggests.

"We need agents to extend our reach beyond this valley, any you are better suited that anyone to recruit them," Josephine remarks.

"In the meantime, let's think of other options."  Cassandra begins to steer the conversation back to more practical topics.  "I won't leave this all to the Herald."   _The Herald_.  Now that was a title Taasa would have to get used to hearing.

"Let's travel to the Hinterlands, find this Mother Giselle.  Seems as good a place as any to start."  The others around simply nod.

"Then we should leave as soon as possible," Cassandra agrees.


End file.
